Samuel Joseph Fuenn (September 1819 – January 11, 1891) was a Russian scholar born in Vilnius, Vilna Governorate. He received the usual Talmudic education, and also acquired an extensive general knowledge of the profane sciences. In 1848 the government appointed him professor of Hebrew and Jewish history in the newly founded rabbinical school of Vilnius. Fuenn filled this position with great distinction till 1856, when he resigned. The government then appointed him superintendent of the Jewish public schools in the district of Vilnius, in which he introduced instruction in the secular sciences and modern languages. Fuenn also took an active part in the administration of the city and in its charitable institutions, and was for many years an alderman. In acknowledgment of his services the government awarded him two medals.
Fuenn was a prolific writer, devoting his activity mainly to the fields of history and literature. He published the following works:
For twenty-one years (1860-81) Fuenn directed the paper Ha-Karmel (at first a weekly, but since 1871 a monthly), devoted to Hebrew literature and Jewish life, with supplements in Russian and German. The paper contained many scientific articles by the leading Jewish scholars of Europe, besides numerous contributions from Fuenn's own pen.